July 4, 2007. Consul General Duane C. Butcher welcomed a record-number of close to 900 guests from all five North German states at the newly opened BallinStadt Emigration Museum in Hamburg for his farewell reception. Guests included three Hamburg Senators, the Deputy Minister President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the President of the Bremen Parliament, 5 mayors from Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein, numerous IVLP alumni and high-ranking representatives of the North German political, business, media and cultural communities. In his remarks, CG Butcher focused on the enduring relevance of the Declaration of Independence for the course of the United States, also reading from the President’s Independence Day proclamation. Moreover, he thanked the state governments, citizens and organizations in Northern Germany for their dedication to promote German-American relations in the past three years, urging them to support transatlantic youth exchange programs.
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